There are many ways to add power to your golf swing. You can use a training aid, hit the gym or even be equipped with a new driver. But as a golf swing nerd, my personal favorite is making subtle changes to the swing.
No, there is no magic move to instantly hit the ball longer. However, if you learn how power is created in the swing – and make changes to your swing to implement these power movements – you can hit the ball longer than you ever thought possible.
Such a power move was demonstrated earlier this year by GOLF Top 100 Teachers Joe Plecker, which you can see in the video below. Our readers definitely loved the tip, as it was our most popular energy tip of 2025. Read below for more.
Our most popular energy tip
Plecker explains that he likes to teach the movements in the golf swing with dynamic exercises. One such drill, which he learned during a visit to Korea earlier this year, is a modified version of the step-swing drill.
For this routine, all you need is a stretch stick or an old spindle that you can easily beat up. Grip it as you would for a normal swing and then take a stance.
“What I like to do is start with the club just in front of me,” Plecker says. “Then I’ll step back and swing my lead leg behind my trail leg, going all the way back this time and then through.”
You have to listen to one whoosh sound when you move through the hit zone. Once the club reaches the finish position, pull it back and whip the club back as you take your lead foot and leave it behind your trail foot.
“What I’m getting is a separation of two halves of my body,” says Plecker. “The lower half goes forward, while the upper half goes backward.”
When you do this, you are creating “spiral” that can be unleashed on the downswing to generate tons of head speed.
“What you’ll feel is that it really starts to become a rhythm, a rhythm,” says Plecker. “By doing two, three, four five times in a row, you kind of find your best rhythm or tempo that you can control the movement with.”
Do this routine a few times, and then pick up a club and take a few swings, making sure to keep that feeling of shifting your weight toward the target before completing the backswing. As you begin to master this feel, you’ll notice that you can generate more speed with less effort, which should lead to longer drives.
